Eric Benson: Further Reading After “Forgotten But Not Gone”

“Texas is the home of the tall tale; exaggerating reality is woven into the culture,” says Eric Benson in his essay “Forgotten But Not Gone” featured in the July 1st issue of Guernica. Benson travels to Austin on the fiftieth anniversary of Borges’s first visit to Texas to search for traces of the fabulist in the Lone Star State. Below, Benson lists his reading recommendations for essential Borges and, of course, a favorite tall tale.

Eric Benson is an assistant editor at New York magazine, where he writes about politics, crime, and jazz. His recent work includes essays, a radio documentary on the Argentine composer Guillermo Klein, and a pseudonymous blog analyzing the TV interviewer Charlie Rose. His last piece for Guernica chronicled the career of NASA apostate Robert Zubrin and his plans for a manned mission to Mars.